T-Mobile Ends Contracts and Subsidies

AlphaWolf_HK writes "In what I see as a refreshing change, T-Mobile, the fourth largest carrier in the U.S., has made sweeping changes to its service, ending both phone subsidies and service contracts. Its CEO said, 'Here's the deal: If we suck this month, go somewhere else. If we're good, stay with us.' As part of that change, the new base plan will include unlimited access, including voice, text, and data. Data will be restricted to edge speeds after 500MB with no overage costs, but can be upgraded to 2.5GB for $10, or unlimited for $20. Portable Wi-Fi hotspot usage is also unrestricted for no additional cost. In addition, LTE services just went live in eight markets. As is already standard practice with T-Mobile, you are free to bring your own device. To keep customers from having to front the full cost of the phone with unsubsidized plans, they'll let people pay off phones in installments. They're also getting the iPhone 5 next month for $650."

Comments

500GB in the article summary is a typo

[linuxguy]

It is supposed to be 500MB. You don't usually "upgrade" from 500GB to 2.5GB of data for $10 a month.

Re:500GB in the article summary is a typo

[AlphaWolf_HK]

Yeah I'll take the blame for that gaffe, as I originally typed that. Though I wish the editor kept my comment about the Nexus 4 and how it can be hacked to work with t-mobiles LTE.

Re:They get it

[Nexus7]

No, T-Mobile's plans (well, at least the one I have) come with free and lousy voicemail. Ever want to hear that waiting voicemail early in the morning because it could be from work? Well, how's about you go through 29 of your saved voicemail that must be re-saved or will be deleted before you can hear the new voicemail? Hows about you can't go to their site and download the ones you want to save?

Oh, you want to do that! OK, well, that will be premium voicemail. But yeah, the cheap-and-it-shows version is free.